FCC to look into cell phone unlocking ban

According to a report in TechCrunch, the FCC will look into the legality of a law that bans the unlocking of cell phones. The law went into effect this year after the Library of Congress removed the cell phone unlock exemption from the Digital Millennium Copyright Act.

The “ban raises competition concerns; it raises innovation concerns,” FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski told TechCrunch during a CrunchGov event. “It’s something that we will look at at the FCC to see if we can and should enable consumers to use unlocked phones.”

TechCrunch notes that the FCC might not have authority in this area to force any changes in the law, but it’s encouraging that at least one arm of the government has taken notice of this issue. Hopefully, the successful White House petition that asks the President to consider changing this law will also move us closer to overturning this ban.